In an Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight bout, Tim Kennedy (black shorts) defeated Michael Bisping on April 16, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter Nations season finale in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot
/ The Canadian Press

In an Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight bout, Tim Kennedy (black shorts) defeated Michael Bisping on April 16, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter Nations season finale in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot
/ The Canadian Press

In an Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight bout, Tim Kennedy (black shorts) defeated Michael Bisping on April 16, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter Nations season finale in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot
/ The Canadian Press

In an Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight bout, Tim Kennedy (black shorts) defeated Michael Bisping on April 16, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter Nations season finale in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot
/ The Canadian Press

Middleweight Tim Kennedy, of the United States, poses during the weigh in for the UFC's "The Ultimate Fighter Nations" event in Quebec City on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. A former Green Beret, UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy continues to serve his country in the Army National Guard. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

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QUEBEC CITY — Tim Kennedy wasn’t shy about running his mouth in the lead-up to his Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight showdown versus Michael Bisping. When it came time, he backed up every word.

In the most high-profile fight of his career, Kennedy made a major move up the middleweight rankings, defeating the brash Brit via unanimous decision in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia on Wednesday at Colisee Pepsi in Quebec City.

Two judges scored the match 49-46 while the third had it 50-45. It was as one-sided a performance as the scorecards indicated.

“I’m learning more and more about Tim Kennedy every time he fights,” said UFC president Dana White.

Kennedy knew coming into the bout how important a win would be. The outspoken and flamboyant Bisping has been one of the most well-known athletes in the sport since his debut on The Ultimate Fighter nearly a decade ago. He’s also been a title contender for much of that time.

“It was a huge win. This was the biggest opportunity that Dana’s ever given me. I was really humbled to be in a main event against a perennial contender. I dominated Michael Bisping, a guy that’s been in the top five forever,” said Kennedy (18-4), who came into the bout ranked eighth in the 185-pound division.

“I’m just super disappointed that I didn’t finish him. That’s what I come here to do, is always finish fights. And I hurt him on a bunch of occasions … This fight didn’t do what it was supposed to, which is move me into, like, ‘This guy should be fighting for a title.’ It’s a big win, the biggest of my career, but it didn’t put me where it should. That’s all on me. I just need another opportunity to get in there and show I deserve to be fighting with the best.”

Kennedy never disputed Bisping’s skills. At the same time, he made no secret of his dislike for the veteran, in the weeks before the fight, at Monday’s media day where the two went jaw-to-jaw or at Tuesday’s weigh-ins, where they yacked at each other for a half-minute.

“He has an abrasive, arrogant, personality,” said Kennedy in the weeks before the fight. “It’s not a personal thing, where I don’t dislike him as a human being. I’m not saying he is a good person. He’s probably not, but … ”

Kennedy also described issues he had with some of Bisping’s past bouts, specifically when he illegally kneed Jorge Rivera in the head and spit towards Rivera’s cornermen.

“I wanted to get a little revenge. I guess that’s a little positive,” said Kennedy.

Neither fighter was ever in serious danger in what turned out to be a grinding, methodical fight. In the first round, Kennedy took Bisping down in the opening two minutes and scored with ground-and-pound. In a second round contested mostly on their feet, Bisping got off the better shots. Kennedy in the third round, much to the dismay of the pro-Bisping crowd, took the British star back to the mat. The fourth round was tight, as Bisping avoided Kennedy’s takedowns but Kennedy’s strikes had more pop to them. Kennedy clinched the contest in the fifth round when he again took Bisping down and then controlled the standup as the clock wound down.

“People said I couldn’t stand with anybody,” said Kennedy.

Bisping (25-6), while disappointed with the loss, appeared willing to brush off any pre-fight issues with Kennedy.

“I respect you as a fighter,” he told Kennedy inside the cage. “Whatever happened, happened.”

Bisping, who came into the fight ranked No. 5 in the division, returned almost one year to the day since his last fight, after suffering a career-threatening detached retina during training last October that required major surgery.

“I think what happened to Bisping tonight – it wasn’t his eye, it wasn’t the fact that he’s had a lot of time off,” said White. “It was the fact that he, and I didn’t think either, that Tim could take him down and control him on the ground as easily as he did.”

Kennedy believes this win – which improved his UFC record to 3-0 – can be the start of a memorable run.

“I want to put on big, explosive fights,” he said. “I’m on my way to doing that.”

In other main-card matches at the TUF Nations season finale:

• A pair of Canadians made history on Wednesday, becoming the first from their home country to win a title of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC’s long-running reality-TV show in which the competitors vie for a UFC contract.

Much of the first round in the 170-pound final consisted of the submission-specialist Aubin-Mercier (4-1) looking for a takedown while the hard-hitting Laprise (8-0) landed with strong counterpunching. As the crowd roared in support and chanted his name, Aubin-Mercier came close with a guillotine choke in the second round but couldn’t finish. The fight was still up for grabs in the final minute of the third round, when in the last 30 seconds Laprise was able to score with some combinations and finish with Aubin-Mercier eating a few shots against the cage.

“Words can’t even describe what I feel right now,” said Laprise, who was given scores of 29-28 and 30-27. One judge scored the bout 29-28 in favour of Aubin-Mercier.

The middleweight final seemed likely to go one of two ways: Westcott in a hurry or Theodorou via slow grind. (Westcott needed less than one minute in each of his two wins on TUF Nations, while Theodorou wore down his opponents in a pair of wins.) Even their walkouts had the same pace: Theodorou was slow and methodical while Westcott literally sprinted from the back to the cage.

As he did on the show, Westcott looked for an early submission. After the first minute or so, however, it was all Theodorou. He used crisp striking to keep the fight standing, only allowing it to the mat when he repeatedly slammed Westcott. The finish came as Westcott was simply trying to survive the second round but was eating too many shots. The referee stopped the contest at 4:41 of that round, giving the title to a 25-year-old who outside the cage has served as cover model for numerous Harlequin romance novels.

“This is the most amazing, amazing things that ever happened to me,” said Theodorou, who gushed over following the footsteps of previous TUF stars like Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar and Rashad Evans.

“My name is amongst that.”

• Montreal’s Patrick Cote completed the Canadian sweep on Wednesday, battling to a unanimous decision over Australia’s Kyle Noke in a high-tempo welterweight battle of head coaches for Team Canada and Team Australia during TUF Nations.

With the crowd firmly behind him, Cote (21-8) dominated the first round, getting Noke (20-7-1) on the mat and pouring down short elbows and fists. In the second, Noke caught Cote with a knee to the chin and nearly finished him. A Cote takedown with 1:50 left in the fight turned out to be the difference in the decisive round, as with the win he completed a main-card sweep for Team Canada.

“It was a tough fight but I think I pushed the pace a lot more,” said Cote. “I’m establishing myself in the welterweight division now. I feel I can go from here, coaching TUF, and challenge the best in the division. George St-Pierre has stepped away so the division is wide open.”

• In a slugfest that earned a standing ovation from the fans during and afterwards, Dustin Poirier (15-3) knocked out Akira Corassani (14-5-1) 42 seconds into the second round of their featherweight broadcast opener.

Poirier was nearly finished in the first round but recovered to finish the round with a flurry that got the fans collectively out of their seats. Early in the second round, Poirier broke the nose of Corassani with an uppercut before finishing him on the mat.

“I say it until I’m blue in the face. I’m not here to pick fights. My job is to fight,” said Poirier. “That was fun.”

In preliminary matches:

• It took KJ Noons just 30 seconds to do to Sam Stout what no one had in 30 previous fight: knock out the popular London, Ont. native.

Noons (12-6) landed a right hand straight to the chin of Stout (21-10-1), stunning the pro-Canadian crowd. Stout was so out of it that when the match was stopped, he tried to take down and lock in a guillotine choke on the referee before tumbling back to the mat. Doctors and his cornermen immediately got him on a stool to be examined, and he left the cage under his own power.

“I felt like if I lost tonight, I was going to get cut from the UFC. I don’t know, maybe I would have quit the sport,” said Noons. “Maybe I just felt like that to put pressure on myself, to put me in that F-U mentality of going in there and messing someone up.”

• Victoria, B.C. native Sarah Kaufman (17-2, 1 NC), the former Strikeforce champion and No. 5-ranked contender in the women’s bantamweight division, battered her way to a dominant decision over Leslie Smith (6-5), who took the bout on one week’s notice. All three judges scored the match 30-27.

“The three changes of opponent were stressful, I admit,” said Kaufman, who desperately wanted to stay on her first Canadian card in three years. She was familiar with Smith, having fought her last year in women’s promotion Invicta FC.

“I think I kept my focus very well despite all the changes and it was a learning experience for me.”

• Ryan Jimmo (19-3) woke a quiet Quebec crowd up with one swing, landing a straight right hand that dropped Sean O’Connell (15-5) at 4:27 of a light heavyweight bout.

Jimmo, a native of St. John, N.B. who was showered with fans chanting his name, celebrated with an in-ring ‘robot’ dance, drawing even more roars from the crowd. He also channeled his inner-Hulk Hogan by encouraging his “Jimmo-maniacs” to “drink protein shakes and read your science books.”

“He was hard to read, I missed a few big shots and I felt like he was going to counter me the next time, so I reset, took my time, and landed a big right hand,” said Jimmo.

• George Roop (15-11-1) took a unanimous decision over Dustin Kimura (12-2) in a bantamweight match, receiving scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-26.

“That was a much harder fight than I expected. I had a full gas tank, I was ready, but that was one of those grinding fights where you are using a lot of energy just holding your opponent,” said Roop.

• In a back-and-forth lightweight contest, Woodbridge, Ont. native Mark Bocek (12-5) returned after 18 months out of action and scored a split-decision win over Mike De La Torre (12-4), who was in the fight until the end despite taking it on just a couple of week’s notice. Bocek received scores of 29-28 and 30-27, while one judge gave De La Torre a 29-28 score.

“It’s been a long time since I last fought at UFC 154 so I’m happy to be back in there and getting the win,” said Bocek.

“This win was the result of 10 years of hard work, ever since I first saw PRIDE FC on TV and decided I wanted to do this for a career,” said Taleb. “I’m happy to win on points but next time, with less nerves, I will do better.”

• Richard Walsh (8-1) earned a unanimous decision over Chris Indich (6-1) in a welterweight match between Team Australia castmates. All three judges scored the match 30-27.

“That was the most nervous — the most scared, if I am honest — I’ve been for any fight in my life,” said Walsh. “That’s just because of the fact I was in the UFC and this was my chance to prove I can belong here.

“I’m happy with the win, but I can be more exciting than that, and I will show that next time. It was a good fight, but I want to really be that guy who has the best fights on the card,” said Gagnon.

FIGHT NOTES: Bonus cheques of $50,000 went to Poirier and Corassani for fight of the night, and to Noons and Jimmo for performance of the night … Attendance was announced by White as 5,029 paying a live gate of $340,000 … UFC also announced winners of $25,000 cheques for the TUF Nations season: Chris Indich and Chad Laprisse earned $25,000 for fight of the season, while Laprise and Westcott were awarded $25,000 for performance of the season.

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